A Screen of Traditional Chinese Medicinal Plant Extracts Reveals 17 Species with Antimicrobial Properties.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing threat that undermines the effectiveness of global healthcare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have identified numerous microbial organisms, particularly members of the ESKAPEE pathogens, as critical threats to global health and economic security. Many clinical isolates of these pathogens have become completely resistant to current antibiotics, making treatment nearly impossible.

Phenotype of diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis patients with positive anticentromere antibodies: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: Anticentromere antibodies (ACA) are typically found in limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (lcSSc), whereas patients with anti-topoisomerase I antibodies (ATA) usually exhibit diffuse cutaneous involvement (dcSSc). We aimed to investigate the clinical phenotype and outcome of ACA-dcSSc.

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted (January 1970 to April 2023) across MEDLINE, Scopus and OVID, to define whether SSc patients (population) within the ACA-dcSSc subset (exposure) had higher/lower risk for major organ involvement (interstitial lung disease-ILD, pulmonary hypertension-PH, primary myocardial involvement-PMI, scleroderma renal crisis-SRC) and mortality (outcomes) compared to ACA-lcSSc and ATA-dcSSc.

Original actions performed by a beginner attacker modify defensive dispersion in small-sided soccer games.

In complex systems, the system's self-regulation processes can transition between states of equilibrium and disequilibrium, leading to changes in the distribution of players within the playing space. Actions that are surprising, rare, or out of the ordinary tend to be valued for their potential to destabilize the opposing defensive structure, altering player dispersion, and creating fragile spaces for the attack. With advancements in understanding the influence of the environment on players' affordances, the tactical consequences from individuals' solutions to various scenarios and their impact on the game context becomes a rich area for investigation.

Systemic sclerosis sine scleroderma is more aggressive in children than in adults.

Objectives: To compare the clinical and laboratory features of paediatric SSc sine scleroderma (ssJSSc) with adult-onset ssSSc.

Methods: Demographic, clinical and laboratory data of ssJSSc, retrospectively retrieved from our hospital medical records, case reports from the literature and from the Pediatric Rheumatology European Society JSSc registry, were compared with the Padua cohort of adult patients with ssSSc. Patients were defined as having ssSSc if they never had skin involvement but all the following features: (i) RP and/or digital vasculopathy, (ii) positive ANA, (iii) internal organs involvement typical of scleroderma and (iv) no other defined CTD.

Rituximab retention rate in systemic sclerosis: a long term real-life multicenter study.

Objectives: to report real-life data on rituximab retention-rate as indicator of safety and efficacy in a multicentric national cohort of systemic sclerosis patients.

Methods: SSc patients treated with rituximab and followed for at least 36 months were included, clinically characterized, and longitudinally monitored. A competing risk analysis with sub-Hazard Ratio(sHR) definition was performed to explore the clinical variables linked to specific cause of rituximab discontinuation.

Autoantibodies Targeting G-Protein-Coupled Receptors: Pathogenetic, Clinical and Therapeutic Implications in Systemic Sclerosis.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multifaceted connective tissue disease whose aetiology remains largely unknown. Autoimmunity is thought to play a pivotal role in the development of the disease, but the direct pathogenic role of SSc-specific autoantibodies remains to be established. The recent discovery of functional antibodies targeting G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), whose presence has been demonstrated in different autoimmune conditions, has shed some light on SSc pathogenesis.

Recent advances of drugs monitoring in oral fluid and comparison with blood.

The use of alternative matrices in toxicological analyses has been on the rise in clinical and forensic settings. Oral fluid (OF), as non-invasive fluid, has attracted attention in the field of drug screening, both for therapeutic and forensic purposes, as well as for medical diagnosis, clinical management, on-site (real time) doping and for monitoring environmental exposure to toxic substances. A good correlation between OF and blood is now established for drug concentrations.

Serum Biomarkers in Connective Tissue Disease-Associated Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a life-threatening complication of connective tissue diseases (CTDs) characterised by increased pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance. CTD-PAH is the result of a complex interplay among endothelial dysfunction and vascular remodelling, autoimmunity and inflammatory changes, ultimately leading to right heart dysfunction and failure. Due to the non-specific nature of the early symptoms and the lack of consensus on screening strategies-except for systemic sclerosis, with a yearly transthoracic echocardiography as recommended-CTD-PAH is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, when the pulmonary vessels are irreversibly damaged.

Human Allogeneic Liver-Derived Progenitor Cells Significantly Improve NAFLD Activity Score and Fibrosis in Late-Stage NASH Animal Model.

Accumulated experimental and clinical evidence supports the development of human allogeneic liver-derived progenitor cells (HALPCs) to treat fibro-inflammatory liver diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate their therapeutic effect in a non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-STAM mouse model. The immune signaling characteristics of HALPCs were first assessed in vitro.

Genetic Predisposition of Postoperative Adhesions Varies in Substrains of BALB/c Mice.

Postoperative adhesions are a major clinical problem because of the associated infertility, chronic pain, bowel obstruction, and the associated costs. Variability in adhesion formation was suggested by clinical observations that apparently similar interventions can cause little to severe adhesions. This is supported by the presence of polymorphisms and genetic predisposition to develop adhesions in animal models and humans.

Pneumoperitoneum induced mesothelial cell changes in a laparoscopic mouse model.

Background: CO pneumoperitoneum (PP) during laparoscopic surgery, can cause hypoxia and desiccation in the peritoneal mesothelial cell, resulting in a time-dependent retraction and bulging of these cells, an acute inflammatory reaction and enhanced adhesion formation. Since hypoxia is prevented by adding 4% of oxygen (O) to the CO PP, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding 4% O to the CO PP on mesothelial cell morphology.

Methods: In a standardized laparoscopic mouse model (n=8 mice per group), a control group with a 30- or 60-min PP with humidified CO + 4% of O (groups I and II) was compared to a hypoxic group with 30- or 60-min humidified pure CO (groups III and IV) and a desiccation group with 60-min of dry CO PP (group V).

Platinum diimine-dithiolate complexes as a new class of photoconducting compounds for pristine photodetectors: case study on [Pt(bipy)(Naph-edt)] (bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine; Naph-edt = 2-naphthylethylene-1,2-dithiolate).

The photoconducting properties of platinum diimine-dithiolate complex [Pt(bipy)(Naph-edt)] (1; bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine; Naph-edt2- = 2-naphthylethylene-1,2-dithiolate) were investigated. DFT calculations on a model assembly with four complex units suggest that the high external quantum efficency measured on a prototype photodetector correlates with the intermolecular character of electronic excitations in the visible region.

Photoconducting Devices with Response in the Visible-Near-Infrared Region Based on Neutral Ni Complexes of Aryl-1,2-dithiolene Ligands.

Metal bis(1,2-dithiolene) complexes belonging to the class [Ni(Ar-edt)] [Ar-edt = arylethylene-1,2-dithiolate; Ar = phenyl, (), 2-naphthyl (); = 0 and 1] were fully characterized by NMR, UV-visible-near-infrared (UV-vis-NIR), diffuse reflectance, and FT-IR spectroscopy, as well as cyclic voltammetry and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. These complexes have emerged as new photoconducting materials that allowed for the development of a prototype of photodetectors with response in the vis-NIR region. The photodetecting devices showed in some cases quantum efficiencies orders of magnitude higher than those of previously reported 1,2-dithiolene systems.

Menopausal status is associated with a high risk for residual disease after cervical conization with positive margins.

Background: We aimed to determine demographic and clinicopathological predictors for residual disease in women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 2/3) with endocervical cone margin involvement.

Methods And Findings: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The eligible patients were women who underwent hysterectomy as a treatment option after having a positive endocervical margin for CIN 2/3 in cervix conization specimens from 2000 to 2015.

Phase I/II Trial of Liver-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Pediatric Liver-based Metabolic Disorders: A Prospective, Open Label, Multicenter, Partially Randomized, Safety Study of One Cycle of Heterologous Human Adult Liver-derived Progenitor Cells (HepaStem) in Urea Cycle Disorders and Crigler-Najjar Syndrome Patients.

Background: Regenerative medicine using stem cell technology is an emerging field that is currently tested for inborn and acquired liver diseases.

Objective: This phase I/II prospective, open label, multicenter, randomized trial aimed primarily at evaluating the safety of Heterologous Human Adult Liver-derived Progenitor Cells (HepaStem) in pediatric patients with urea cycle disorders (UCDs) or Crigler-Najjar (CN) syndrome 6 months posttransplantation. The secondary objective included the assessment of safety up to 12 months postinfusion and of preliminary efficacy.

Lung Ultrasound as a Screening Method for Interstitial Lung Disease in Patients With Systemic Sclerosis.

Background: Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) undergo chest radiographs and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the thorax both for interstitial lung disease (ILD) detection and for disease progression monitoring.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether lung ultrasound (LUS) is a useful screening tool for ILD in patients with SSc in comparison with HRCT.

Methods: This was a longitudinal cohort study carried out from December 2015 to April 2016.

Optimization of Endometrial Decidualization in the Menstruating Mouse Model for Preclinical Endometriosis Research.

Background: To induce endometrial decidualization in rodents, an intrauterine oil stimulus can be delivered via the nontraumatic vagina or via the traumatic laparotomy. However, there is considerable variation in amount of decidualization using these inducing methods. Therefore, we studied which oil delivery route could achieve the highest rate of endometrial decidualization along the full length of both uterine horns.

A randomized control trial to evaluate the importance of pre-training basic laparoscopic psychomotor skills upon the learning curve of laparoscopic intra-corporeal knot tying.

Background: Training of basic laparoscopic psychomotor skills improves the acquisition of more advanced laparoscopic tasks, such as laparoscopic intra-corporeal knot tying (LICK). This randomized controlled trial was designed to evaluate whether pre-training of basic skills, as laparoscopic camera navigation (LCN), hand-eye coordination (HEC), and bimanual coordination (BMC), and the combination of the three of them, has any beneficial effect upon the learning curve of LICK. The study was carried out in a private center in Asunción, Paraguay, by 80 medical students without any experience in surgery.

NO strongly prevents adhesion formation and postoperative pain in open surgery through a drug-like effect.

Background: Microsurgical tenets and peritoneal conditioning during laparoscopic surgery (LS) decrease postoperative adhesions and pain. For a trial in human, the strong beneficial effects of NO needed to be confirmed in open surgery (OS).

Results: In a mouse model for OS, the effect of the gas environment upon adhesions was evaluated.

Of Mice and Women: A Laparoscopic Mouse Model for Endometriosis.

Study Objective: To demonstrate how a novel laparoscopic approach allows the development of a mouse model for endometriosis after seeding menstrual endometrium from donor mice into the abdominal cavity of syngeneic recipient mice.

Design: A step-by-step video description of the techniques used to adapt the estrous cycle of mice towards a menstrual cycle and to subsequently induce endometriosis via laparoscopic seeding of menstrual endometrium.

Setting: University research institute.

Dominant hand, non-dominant hand, or both? The effect of pre-training in hand-eye coordination upon the learning curve of laparoscopic intra-corporeal knot tying.

Background: Training of basic laparoscopic psychomotor skills improves both acquisition and retention of more advanced laparoscopic tasks, such as laparoscopic intra-corporeal knot tying (LICK). This randomized controlled trial (RCT) was performed to evaluate the effect of different pre-training programs in hand-eye coordination (HEC) upon the learning curve of LICK.

Results: The study was performed in a private center in Asunción, Paraguay, by 60 residents/specialists in gynaecology with no experience in laparoscopic surgery.

Targeting mast cells: a new way to treat endometriosis.

Endometriosis is a chronic estrogen-dependent inflammatory disease of unclear etiology that affects 15-20% of women of reproductive age. Efforts are now focusing on understanding new mechanisms involved in its physiopathology, like novel target pathways and different molecules. There is evidence that mast cells (MCs) play a role in this disease.

From pyrrolidinyl-benzodioxane to pyrrolidinyl-pyridodioxanes, or from unselective antagonism to selective partial agonism at α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

Each of the four aromatic -CH= of (S,R)-2-pyrrolidinyl-1,4-benzodioxane [(S,R)-6] and of its epimer at the dioxane stereocenter (S,S)-6, previously reported as α4β2 nAChR ligands, was replaced with nitrogen. The resulting four diastereoisomeric pairs of pyrrolidinyl-pyridodioxanes were studied for the nicotinic affinity and activity at α4β2, α3β4 and α7 nAChR subtypes and compared to their common carbaisostere. It turned out that such isosteric substitutions are highly detrimental, but with the important exception of the S,R stereoisomer of the pyrrolidinyl-pyridodioxane with the pyridine nitrogen adjacent to the dioxane and seven atoms distant from the pyrrolidine nitrogen.